👋🏼 Hello Hamilton
Welcome back!
Hello Hamilton Social Badminton 🏸 was a hit last night! 75 Hamiltonians joined me to meet some new neighbours and try something new. Join us for the next one? >
Our next Hello Hamilton Dinner Club 🍽️ night will be announced next week! Keen to be personality matched with five other Hamiltonians looking to make new friends? Join the club to be the first to hear when bookings open >
There’s plenty on in the Tron this week. See you out there!
— Ben
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What’s happening this weekend?
Friday, 9th October
👗 Dress for Success Hamilton Sip & Shop | Fri 9th 4:00pm at Craigs Investment Partners. Browse through a stunning collection of high-end preloved designer and quality brand clothing at incredible prices, all while supporting a wonderful cause.
🎶 The Hidden Gems | Fri 9th 6:30pm at The Barn. An awesome acoustic show played by young aspiring musicians!
🎸 Wheres Jai | Fri 9th 8:00pm at Last Place. An Auckland pop-rock five-piece built around the dynamic pairing of two female lead vocalists.
👀 BEN’S PICK
😁 Megaland Inflatable Obstacle Course | Until Sun 11th at Mystery Creek. Megaland is a massive obstacle course designed for all ages, featuring an epic 345-meter-long course with 43 incredible challenges! Tickets >
Saturday, 10th October
⚽️ NZ Ethnic Football Festival | Saturday and Sunday 9:00am - 5:00pm at Gower Park. A vibrant community football festival celebrating cultural diversity through sport. Enjoy a full day of football matches, cultural performances, delicious food stalls, and family-friendly activities.
🪡 Mending & Repair Meet | Sat 10th 9:30am - 1:00pm at Riverbank Lane. Learn practical sewing skills to repair, alter, and extend the life of your clothing and other household textile items.
🕺 The Wiggles Live in Concert | Sat 10th 10:00am & 1:00pm at Claudelands Events Centre. A fun intimate live concert experience that will have the whole family singing, dancing, and laughing along!
🌙 Moon, Maramataka and Community | Sat 10th 10:30am at Chartwell Library. Discover the history, traditions, and symbolism of the Chinese Moon Festival, and learn how its themes of family, harvest, and connection resonate with aspects of Maaori culture.
🎶 Son & Water - JB Hi-FI Te Awa Performance | Sat 10th 1:00pm at The Base. A special live performance, celebrating whānau, whakapapa, legacy and the ahi that continues to show through their music.
🎉 Waikato Dussehra & Garba Night | Sat 10th 6:00pm at K'aute Pasifika Fale. Join for an unforgettable evening of culture, colour and celebration!
🕺 Hamilton Hysteria | Sat 10th 6:30pm at Mesoverse. For the first time ever, Charlie's Vendetta has come down from Auckland to Hamilton with a vendetta... Balls to the wall energy, heavy riffs, non stop action, they're bringing the Meso walls to the floor.
😆 Fletch, Vaughan and Hayley | Sat 10th 7:30pm at BNZ Theatre. Three of New Zealand’s most beloved broadcasters, are hitting the road in 2026 with their all-new live tour: The Genuine Friends Tour.
🎵 Noxen + Crescent Lane | Sat 10th 8:00pm at Nivara Lounge. Come along for a good time and support two high school bands from Cambridge.
Sunday, 11th October
🥬 Hamilton Farmers' Market | Sun 11th 8:00am - 12:00pm at The Barn, Claudelands. Back at Claudelands this week after last week at the lake. Continue your Sunday tradition.
🚗 Coffee & Cars | Sun 11th 9:00am - 12:00pm at Jukebox Diner. Family friendly event where you can enjoy seeing some of the best show & performance cars Waikato has to offer!
🎤 Voices in Bloom | Sun 11th 2:00pm at Gallagher Academy. Waikato Rivertones and Greater Auckland Choruses are excited to perform alongside fabulous quartets BOATS, Take Note, Renew! and Uncalled Four.
🥁 Sunday Blues Jam | Sun 11th 3:00pm - 6:00pm at Biddy Mulligans. Sit in with a seasoned house band, jamming classic 12-bar blues and more. Singers, guitarists, bassists, drummers, keyboard players and horn players all welcome. Bring your instrument, your voice and your groove.
Melbourne takes the win
Last week I asked asked where you’d most like to be able to fly direct from Hamilton Airport, and Melbourne was the clear winner!
And reading through your comments, there’s more to it than weekend getaways. Plenty of you have family and friends in Melbourne, travel there regularly for work, or see it as a useful gateway to other parts of Australia.
One message came through strongly across the responses: you’d love more ways to travel internationally without first making the trip to Auckland. The traffic, parking, early starts and extra travel time were mentioned again and again.
And what about the “somewhere else” votes? Rarotonga and Singapore were the biggest suggestions, followed by Perth and Bali. There was also plenty of interest in an Asian hub that could open up easier connections further afield.
Hamilton Airport says two new international routes could be announced within months.
Quick poll: ☀️ Labour Day is on Monday 26 October! Any plans?
What’s on next week?
Tuesday, 13th October
📚 Book Launch: The Holiday Grump | Tue 13th 6:00pm at Rototuna Library. Lose your heart this Christmas for the HOTTEST grumpy/sunshine romcom of the season set in the gorgeous New England town of Hideaway Harbor…
Wednesday, 14th October
🌱 Seed Swap | Wed 14th 2:00pm at Hillcrest Library. Swap seeds, share stories and knowledge and grow something new. Bring what you have, take what you need, and help our community gardens thrive.
Thursday, 15th October
🎤 Bryony Matthews presents Brain Storm | Thu 15th 7:30pm at The Meteor. Created by Ōtautahi singer-songwriter Bryony Matthews, the show weaves together original songs, personal storytelling, and evocative visuals to share a deeply human story of loss, resilience, and adaptation.
Friday, 16th October
🐴 Equifest 2026 | Fri 16th - Sun 18th 8:30am at Claudelands Events Centre. Join for a celebration of education, competition, shopping and nightshows, bringing together horse lovers from across the country.
🎸 Foundation Hardcore Fest III | Friday and Saturday 6:00pm at The Local Te Rapa. Over two relentless days, 17 of some of the best NZHC.
🤣 The Meeting | Friday and Saturday 7:00pm at The Meteor. Good news: this political, satirical comedy is the perfect show to light up a dark evening.
🎤 Björn Again | Fri 16th 7:30pm at BNZ Theatre. The only ABBA-endorsed tribute show hits the stage for one spectacular night that is bound to be a Super Trouper celebration of ABBA’s timeless discography.
🎼 Opera Scenes: Nel Mistero - Into the Mystery | Friday and Saturday 7:30pm at Gallagher Academy. The Waikato Conservatorium of Music presents scenes from the great operas of Mozart, Donizetti, Verdi and Gilbert & Sullivan.
🎵 Fairly Obvious Album Release Tour | Fri 16th 8:00pm at Last Place. Fairly Obvious are a progressive pop-punk band from Taupo, New Zealand, blending big hooks with restless energy.
🎶 Macy Gray | Fri 16th 8:00pm at The Factory. With over 25 million records sold worldwide, a Grammy Award, two BRIT Awards, and 10 studio albums spanning more than two decades, Macy Gray is one of the greatest R&B and soul artists of her generation.
Saturday, 17th October
🧤 Fabric-a-brac | Sat 17th 9:00am - 1:00pm at Chartwell Cooperating Church. At the Hamilton Fabric-a-brac, you'll discover vintage and modern fabric treasures, haberdashery, patterns, buttons and sewing supplies.
🏉 Black Ferns vs France | Sat 17th 3:05pm at FMG Stadium. Experience the pace, skill and powerful joy of women’s rugby, live. Put on your black jersey, dig out your poi and join to support the Black Ferns.
🌈 Dlight Experience | Sat 17th 7:30pm at TreeChurch and Gardens. An enchanting evening of sound and light, bringing the living TreeChurch and Gardens to life after dark with multi-sensory live performances and illuminated displays!
🎶 The JLB | Sat 17th 9:00pm at Biddy Mulligans. Expect a BIG night of classic rock, modern rock, massive sing-alongs and all the songs you forgot you needed to hear live!
Sunday, 18th October
🥒 Hamilton Farmers' Market at the Lake | Sun 18th 8:00am - 12:00pm at Innes Common. At the Lake again! Same great fresh food, flowers and plant stalls, just in an outside venue.
🌅 Gourmet in the Gardens | Sun 18th 4:00 - 8:00pm at Hamilton Gardens.
Gourmet in the Gardens returns to the majestic Rhododendron Lawn at Hamilton Gardens for another season of relaxed Sunday evenings, delicious food and good times together.
Thanks for reading Hello Hamilton today! Fire through any feedback by direct replying to this letter. I’d love to hear from you.
By the way, this will always be free to all. But to keep Hello Hamilton human-written, independent, and ad-minimal, please consider becoming a paid member (for the price of about two coffees a month). It helps cover the $1,000 it costs me each month to run this thing.
— Ben Woodgates and Sarah Blake
